The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

DAYTON - When Washington state instituted a fee several years ago for documents filed at the county auditor's office to help offset the cost of fight homelessness, Columbia County Commissioners were sure it would take a long time to raise enough money to address the issue here.

Although the state-mandated fees were set up to help counties build a reserve of cash intended to help the homeless, the roughly $12,000 per year leaders expected to raise wouldn't amount to much for years to come - or so they assumed.

But in just a few years, that fund in Columbia County has grown to $119,000 and now commissioners are wondering if it might not be enough to build shelter as one potential long-range plan to the address the social issue.

"Frankly, I was surprised it was so big," Commissioner Chuck Reeves said Tuesday. "We did not have a plan because we thought we didn't have enough money to plan with."

Reeves said the previously projected $10,000 to $12,000 a year would not have paid for purchasing and maintaining a shelter, but the cash that actually came in from the fees has prompted the commissioners to consider a range of options.

"It now appears we need to make a long-range plan," he said.

In the meantime, the Blue Mountain Action Council successfully appealed to Columbia County Commissioners last week for $10,000 from the fund to help with local prevention methods: getting money to people facing evictions or to those who need to stay for a night in a hotel or who face other homeless issues.

"We have a contract with Project Timothy and the state has provided those funds (before)," said Kathy Covey, director of community services for the Walla Walla-based action council. "But those ran out last month."

The money from Columbia County will help the action council continue to run its operations here through June, Covey said.

"We have also been involved with helping the county put together a 10-year plan to end homelessness," Covey said, indicating she has floated the idea of a permanent shelter.

"We've done a shelter in Pomeroy and we could do it in Columbia County should they desire it," she said. "Right now we're just plugging a hole in the system."

The Blue Mountain Action Council bought a building in Pomeroy, remodeled it and now manages and staffs that facility, according to Covey.

The action council is a nonprofit agency governed by a board of directors representing the target population, private, and public sectors of the community. Eligibility for services is based on need as determined by income, employment status, education, family size, or other factors.

Clients eligible for the council's transient housing program are homeless families with children under the age of 18 or pregnant women, with incomes at or below 50 percent of the median household income for their county. Clients must be willing to create and actively participate in a Housing Stability Plan for achieving permanent housing and selfsufficiency.

For additional information, contact Debbie Hume at 529-4980 or visit www.bmacww.org.